DIY: LED Clock Light with NO Hotspots (56k)

[vorin]

Tools Required:
Soldering Iron
Solder
Electrical Tape
Flat-head Screwdriver
Wire Strippers
LED (your choice of color) with appropriate resistor
Small Phillips-head screwdriver (Jeweler's preferred)

Recommended Tools:
Extra Tip for Soldering Iron (used to melt plastic)

Outline:
1.Clock Removal
2.Clock Dissection
3.LED Installation
4.Results

Part 1:

Use your electrician's tape to cover the metal tip of your flat-head screwdriver (or use your own special tool.)
Insert the tip underneath the clock assembly - in the crease below the three buttons
Apply some pressure in and pry up (handle down, tip up) in order to pop the bottom out from its clips.
At this point, you should be able to put the screwdriver down, and loosen the rest of the clock housing from its top clips.
Now, Unplug the two sets of wires from the clock assy. (1. the hazard button wires, 2. the clock wires) Each of these sets has a spring clip holding them in place.
Now the clock should be free from the car, and now you can begin working indoors.

Part 2:

In order to free up some space, you can remove the hazard button by pushing it toward the face of the assembly.
You should notice a white plastic cover on the back of the clock which is held in by 4 clips.
Gently use your flat-head screwdriver (you can take off the tape) to unclip the back and reveal the circuitry
Now, use your small Phillips-head to undo the four screws holding the board in. - Make sure to get all 4, i almost broke mine when i was trying to pry it up when i only removed 3
Now, the circuit board should come out easily, and you'll see the board, the glass, the blue filter, the LCD, and the clear plastic lens.
Set the white plastic cover and the circuit board aside.

Part 3:
Heat up your Soldering Iron with your extra tip.
Use it to melt a place in the side for the LED to sit
Then, allow it to cool off, so you can use your normal soldering tip (or clean off your first tip)

Now, Solder your resistor to the positive end of your LED (the longer leg)

Now, I decided you bend the negative lead and feed it inside the hole, and run the positive lead around the outside.

Solder the positive and negative (respectively) leads to the appropriate contact on the board.

that was my first attempt (not very good)

Now, without putting anything back together, test out your LED by plugging in your cable to the back of the circuit board (the spring clip of the connector faces up) - when you are testing it, make sure your key is turned to the ON position. (i thought i failed miserably, and gave up. I was "testing" it by only turning on the driving lights without having the key in the ignition. but then i was driving around and noticed it was lit! it's a good feeling)

If everything tests fine, reassemble your whole clock and put it back in your car.

Part 4:

for comparison

 

[CG6Lemon]

Re: DIY: LED clock light (56k not allowed)

looks cool but too complicated for me since u messed with the circuit baord haha.

 

[xi0utlawstarix]

wires??? just bend the led before putting it in the bulb holder.

 

[shenaniganz08]

Nice DIY, we both had similar ideas

V6performance is down, or else I would show you my results ( along with the reverse LCD DIY)

I've been too busy with school to make a full DIY

But here is my interior shot

 

[vorin]

wires??? just bend the led before putting it in the bulb holder.

actually, since my radio shack was closed, i bought a set of LED license plate screws that would have shone toward the back of the car, but i stole the LED/resistor out of them since i knew it would be made for 12v.

by the time the LED was actually installed, the neg. end didn't have any wire on it

Nice DIY, we both had similar ideas

i like your interior shot. i hope to be at that point soon (minus the auto hvac)
i already have the reverse polarizing film, but i chickened out since i thought i messed up my clock when i couldn't get it to light up. I thought it should be getting power when my hvac lights lit up, but the clock wont light until the key is in the on position (curiously)

any particular reason you used 2 leds? my one is really bright - almost too bright. i can only dim it to about 80% when the incandescents are at like 10%

 

[shenaniganz08]

because when you reverse polarize, the amount of "bright light" is a lot less

i wanted all my lighting to be even, so sometimes i used more LED's that were needed, and then just used bigger resistors to lower the light levels from each LED

my odometer alone has 3 led's each one pointing in a different direction. all three use about the same as just one LED, so the lighting isn't blinding, just really even

 

[vorin]

nice planning, how many LEDs do you have in the hvac?

 

[Devil-V]

Do you need to get a specific type of LED? (5v or 12v)

I've been wanting to fix the clock for a long time. This looks like a cheap and easy solution, I might give this a go.

 

[GoldnKnight22]

Nice DIY, we both had similar ideas

But here is my interior shot

Holy crap. that looks hot. How did you get the gauges so white? They usually have a bluish tinge to them, even when putting in white LEDs.

 

[vorin]

Do you need to get a specific type of LED? (5v or 12v)

I've been wanting to fix the clock for a long time. This looks like a cheap and easy solution, I might give this a go.

it doesn't matter which physical size of LED you get, you will have to pair it with the resistor that will allow it to run from 12v power without burning out.
if you use the led without a resistor, it will light for a second or so before it burns out, but with the correct resistor, the led will last forever.

Holy crap. that looks hot. How did you get the gauges so white? They usually have a bluish tinge to them, even when putting in white LEDs.

as mentioned in talontsiawd's extensive thread, the gauges and hvac and everything have a blue filter to make incandescents look more white. These have to be removed to get the true white your LEDs are putting out.